Following our recent retrospective on Fudge’s underground classic The Ferocious Rhythm Of Precise Laziness, we were honored to speak with the band’s frontman, Tony Ammendolia. We talked about Fudge’s aspirations for the record, what their scene was like leading up to its release, and what music Tony currently makes! You can check out the transcript of our interview below:

Prior to the recording of The Ferocious Rhythm Of Precise Laziness, what were the band’s/your aspirations for the album? 
We wanted to make a record that captured our live sound as much as possible with higher sound quality than the singles we had already released. What we actually made was pretty different than what we set out to make, but by the time we realized it we didn’t have much left in the budget to make some of the big changes we wanted so we tweaked as best as we could.

What were the musical inspirations or reference albums that informed what we hear on The Ferocious Rhythm Of Precise Laziness? 
We had very diverse musical tastes, but at that time we were listening to a lot of Sarah Records stuff as well as Dinosaur Jr., My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver, Moonshake, NWA and a bunch of dub reggae.

While lots of guitar-based alternative acts of the time hailed from the UK, Washington, and New York, Fudge was from Richmond, VA. Was there a strong alternative scene there? How did you and Fudge get into alternative music/culture?
The scene in Richmond was generally heavier than what we were doing. Punk, hardcore and metal were pretty popular, but there was a small alternative scene too.  David Jones [Fudge guitarist] and I lived in Northern Virginia just outside of Washington DC and we had a really great radio station WHFS that played great music that you wouldn’t hear anywhere else. We also went to live shows in DC at the 9:30 club as well as other venues there.

Were there any musical contemporaries that you deeply connected with? Any particular bands we should check out? 
We did a bunch of shows with Versus, Small Factory, and The Dambuilders. All of them were really great. I think Versus is the most underrated band of that time period.

Can you recall what the recording process for The Ferocious Rhythm Of Precise Laziness was like? Did it differ from the 7” releases prior to the full-length debut?
Nothing really different there except we had more time to record it than anything else we had done up until then.

Any memory of the guitars, amps, and pedals that are heard on The Ferocious Rhythm Of Precise Laziness?
My memory of the equipment is not great, but I was playing an old Fender Mustang a lot back then through a Fender Tremolux amp. I think David was playing his Jazzmaster a lot at that time too.

Was there a focus on technical execution vs. production aesthetics (ie guitar effects, mixing, etc.) in making this record? Did any particular aspect of The Ferocious Rhythm Of Precise Laziness take time to get right?
I think the production was at the forefront of our minds at the time. We tried a few things that were a little different like running the entire mix through massive reverb on part of a song. We recorded a couple of guitar parts through a microphone that one of us was swinging in a large circle over our heads to get that Doppler Effect sound.

After the album’s release, Fudge played dates with legendary UK punks, Buzzcocks. How were those shows? Did their audience react kindly to your material?
That was a great tour and we even met Nirvana backstage. They came to see the Buzzcocks. By the time we were on that tour, our sound had changed a little and I think the Buzzcocks fans liked us.

For an album that many have labeled as a shoegaze release, what makes The Ferocious Rhythm Of Precise Laziness so great is the wider range of musical styles that come across through tracks such as “20-Nothing Dub”. How did you perceive Fudge’s place in the landscape of alternative/independent music in the 1990s?
Even back then I don’t think we really fit into a box very well. Sure, there were shoegaze elements, but we liked a lot of different stuff and it came through in our music.

Listening back to the follow-up album, Southside Speedway, there is an emphasis on conciseness and melodicism throughout. What inspired this sudden shift in direction, considering its release comes only one year removed from The Ferocious Rhythm Of Precise Laziness?
Not sure really.  Maybe some of the Richmond scene rubbed off on us. Maybe it just felt immediately gratifying on stage. Shoegaze was dead? I really don’t know. Haha. 

Southside Speedway would ultimately become Fudge’s last album. Has the band ever considered writing new music? Do you still play/write/record?
We were in the process of recording demos for a third record when we broke up. The third record was yet again a departure from the first two records. The rough mixes we still have sound really good to me, but we will never go back and finish any of that. David Jones and I started playing again in recent years. Our current band is called B4NK M4CHIN3 and we have a 5 song EP called Leisure, Recreation and Stability and it’s available on all the streaming platforms. It is probably closer to Southside Speedway, but there are elements of the earlier stuff in there too.

The Ferocious Rhythm Of Precise Laziness recently turned 30 years old! In retrospect, how do you view/feel about the album? Any chance that we could see its debut on streaming platforms soon?
I think that record has some good moments.  I don’t think it will ever be available on the streaming platforms though.

Thank you Tony for being the first of (hopefully) more interviews to come on Noise Is Power Music! We are thrilled to have gotten the chance to document some of the history of one of our all-time favorite bands.